https://ysolda.com/blogs/journal.atomYsolda Ltd - Blog2019-05-21T15:08:00+01:00Ysolda Ltdhttps://ysolda.com/blogs/journal/how-does-ease-affect-inclusive-size-ranges2019-05-21T15:08:00+01:002019-05-22T11:53:15+01:00How does ease affect inclusive size ranges?Laura ChauFollowing on fromour post about choosing what size to knit, we wanted to elaborate on what ease means and how it interacts with sweater sizes, especially when it comes to designs with an oversized look.

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Following on fromour post about choosing what size to knit, we wanted to elaborate on what ease means and how it interacts with sweater sizes, especially when it comes to designs with an oversized look.

What is Ease?

The difference between your body measurements and the finished measurements of the sweater is called ease. The amount of ease required will depend on the elasticity (or lack thereof) of the fabric, the thickness of the fabric, how many layers you plan to wear under the garment, personal preference and prevailing fashion trends. Some patterns will tell you what size the model is wearing and their chest measurement while others will give a suggested amount of ease to help you choose your size.

Negative, positive and zero ease

Negative ease is when the garment, measured flat, is smaller than the wearer but fits in a way they like.

Positive ease is when the garment, measured flat, is larger than the wearer but fits in a way they like.

minimal ease: 0-2”

moderate ease: 3-5”

significant ease: more than 5”

Zero ease is when both the garment and the wearer's body have the same measurement.

Different areas of a garment may have different amounts of ease - the body of a garment may have much more ease than the sleeves.

Wearing vs style ease

Wearing ease is the amount of ease you need to be able to move comfortably in the garment. Because knitted fabric is generally stretchy, a garment can have zero or negative ease and still be comfortable to wear for a fitted look. Some garment styles require more wearing ease than others.

Style ease is any additional ease added to create a particular look or silhouette, and can be used in conjunction with wearing ease. Different sections of a garment can have varying amounts of style ease for design effect - consider an oversized body with fitted sleeves, or a more form-fitting body with dramatic voluminous sleeves.

What does ease have to do with inclusive sizing?

The problem: just because finished measurements are getting larger, that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re getting more inclusive.

Design Intention

It's becoming much more common for patterns to include information about how much ease the sample was photographed with and sometimes the size the model is wearing. This is a great step towards transparency in sizing, but it doesn’t address the sizes themselves.

A sweater that calls for 8” of ease but tops out at a finished measurement of 50” is telling knitters that it’s intended to fit a 42” bust. That just isn’t enough! People who wear larger sizes want to be able to choose whether their garments are draped and oversized, rather than being forced into knitting sizes with less ease than intended.

Can’t I just change the amount of ease?

Sure, there’s quite a bit of flexibility in choosing a size based on your style preferences!

But when it comes to re-creating a sweater based on a pattern and the promise of a particular look, a finished chest measurement of 50” written to fit a 42” won’t have the same silhouette on a person with a 50” body. Depending on the style, the shoulders, sleeves, and lengths will be sized for a 42”, leading to shoulders that aren’t wide enough, hiking the too-small sleeve further up the arm, and generally feeling like this wasn’t sized for you. In a garment meant to be worn with significant ease, suggesting that a knitter simply choose a size closest to their actual size regardless of ease will result in a different look.

Certain garment styles, such as drop shoulders, need at least 4-6” of ease in the body circumference in order to allow comfortable movement. If the chest is too tight, there won’t be enough extra fabric at the underarm to create a “hinge” for the arm to move up and down. Other garment styles, such as set-in sleeves, work better when fitted more closely to the contours of the body. Of course, there are way more styles than these two, and each has their own fit considerations.

The total number of sizes and the increments between sizes are also important to note. If the sizes are only 2-3” apart and there are lots of them, making one size up or down from your usual will fit a bit differently, but will be pretty close. But there are lots of reasons why a garment may have larger gaps between sizes, such as large design elements (a large stitch repeat or feature), or an unusual construction.

What Does Changing Ease Look Like?

This pullover raglan pattern is KBG 11 from Einrum First Book. Bex knit this sample in the largest size and we had fun trying it on different people — the results were sometimes surprising, but definitely proved that there are limits to how much changing the ease can make a sweater fit a wider range of sizes. We liked it best with either a significant amount of positive ease, so that it looked intentionally oversized, or with almost none.

We ultimately decided not to carry this print book alongside the yarn. Although the minimalist gender neutral designs are lovely, we felt like the size range was too limited. If it works for you it’s available to order direct from the yarn company. For a similar basic seamless raglan pullover, you can try this pattern generatorNo pattern generator is perfect, but this would give you a good starting point based on your actual measurements and gauge.

Bex also made the Great Love Cardigan by Anke Stricke in the size 54, in Einrum, and we photographed it on several people. We found the amount of positive ease (10-14”) was quite flexible, but as written it definitely looked better on the taller members of our team. It’s a great example of where you’d want to watch how shoulder width affects sleeve length. This is worked top-down so it would be easy to try on and knit to the length you want.

When considering ease in choosing a size to knit, it is worth looking at the information provided about arm sizing and length, not just ease at the torso. This will help avoid any surprises in your finished object. Don't hesitate to adjust lengths to suit how you want to wear the finished garment.

Of course, when assessing whether a size range actually includes your size you'll want to look at whether the finished measurements will give you the amount of style ease that either the design is intended to have or that you prefer. We hope that publishers and designers will take ease into account more when they make decisions on what sizes to include in a pattern.

On 3rd May we published a blog post titled ‘Gilliatt Sweater Roundup’. Our intention was to celebrate this new yarn line that’s just been added to the online store by showing designs offered in this yarn. We wanted to show the yarn knit up in garments so the drape and character of the fabric created could be seen. As a team we wanted to only include designs that were inclusively sized both in terms of measurement and the intended amount of ease the garment is to be worn with. However, in presenting this, we were insensitive to what was being highlighted: a lack of those sizes needed.

Expressing frustration when it was not ours to express meant we received a thoughtful and honest message saying that a reader and customer felt hurt. This was never our intention and yet we know all too well that intentions, however well meaning, can hurt. After some discussion as a team (and with this kind person), we would like to offer a post that celebrates inclusive patterns (and those designers) for garments that would easily work with Gilliatt and any similar worsted weight yarn.

If you click on the pictures, they link to each design's Ravelry pattern page allowing you to check out other people's projects and further details.

Antler Pullover (Jan 2019)Tin Can Knits

A pullover follow-up to the popular Antler Cardigan, this seamless sweater is worked from the bottom up with a yoke full of cables that’ll pop in Gilliatt. 28 sizes run from babies to adults. Finished chest measurement from 18.5” to 60.5”.

Leelanau Melynda Bernardi

Colour work sweaters for everybody! This two-colour pullover is knit in the round from the bottom up with raglan shaping, and is sized from babies to adults. Finished chest: 20” - 60”, 16 sizes, 1-3” ease for child’s sizes, 4-8” ease for adult sizes

Koppen Laura Chau

A seamless raglan cardigan with overlapping fronts and one button closure or optional I-cord ties. A subtle diagonal texture pattern is worked on the body, along with integrated I-cord and garter stitch edgings. Long sleeves feature deep garter stitch cuffs and a center garter stitch panel.Finished chest: 30.5” - 59”, shown with 2” negative ease

HintermostBristol Ivy (written for Jill Draper Kingston)

A gorgeous cardigan from the inimitable brain of Bristol Ivy, this detail-filled project features lots of couture techniques, including steeking, sewn-on button bands, and afterthought pockets. Finished chest measurements of 35” - 62.75”, 12 sizes, shown with 6” of ease.

ConstanceAnj Medhurst

This graphic pullover is worked seamlessly from the bottom up, with balloon sleeves and a slip-stitch mosaic yoke detail. To Fit Chest: 28-30” up to 60-62”, 9 sizes, 1-3.5” ease

A raglan pullover, worked seamlessly from the top down with an inset garter panel and three-quarter sleeves. There are 2 style options for finishing the neck. Finished chest: 31.5 - 61”, 9 sizes, 0-2” ease

This sophisticated cardigan (with integrated pockets!) is worked from the top down in a variety of texture stitches to keep you interested. The lush shawl collar is worked in brioche stitch. Finished chest: 36.75” - 60”, 10 sizes, 3-6” ease

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https://ysolda.com/blogs/journal/pay-what-you-can-pattern-pricing2019-05-10T16:09:00+01:002019-05-14T12:33:34+01:00Pay what you can pattern pricingYsolda TeaguePricing patterns has always been one of the hardest parts of designing and I’ve often felt like the “standard” price of knitting patterns is both lower than other similar products (eg. indie sewing patterns) and doesn’t really reflect the amount of work that goes into them. At the same time, it’s totally fair to worry that rising pattern prices will price people out.

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Pricing patterns has always been one of the hardest parts of designing and I’ve often felt like the “standard” price of knitting patterns is both lower than other similar products (eg. indie sewing patterns) and doesn’t really reflect the amount of work that goes into them. At the same time, it’s totally fair to worry that rising pattern prices will price people out. Of course pattern prices are only one aspect of the many ways knitting can be expensive, and that as a community it can feel exclusive and like you have to spend a lot to fit in. I’d like to find a price that balances valuing the work in a pattern, and being inclusive. Consequently I’m trialing a higher price combined with pay what you can options on couple of patterns, and hope to extend it to more. In this post I’ll break down some of the challenges of pattern pricing, and explain how the new model works.

Some of the challenges in pricing patterns

I’ve been an indie, self publishing designer for almost 14 years. Now I also run an online store, growing dye studio, AND design. We’ve got a team of 8 and there are never enough hours in the day. In that time I’ve seen a lot of changes in the industry, and a lot of the same conversations circling back around.

In the early years of designing full time I struggled to be taken seriously as a business owner within the industry: how could you have a business selling only patterns? After all, wasn’t the primary purpose of a pattern to entice someone to buy the yarn. The irony’s not lost on me that I ended up selling yarn.

I often see marketing people, and sometimes yarn brands and shops, divide customers into groups based on the price point of their yarn choices, and argue that a shop should cater to just one of those groups. Of course some knitters need to be very budget conscious, and for others any yarn is an insignificant purchase, but I think the vast majority of knitters shop in a more fluid way — we choose yarns across the price spectrum depending on the project (or our other spending that month!).

Since we began selling yarn it's been a priority for me to offer both more luxurious artisan yarns, carefully chosen so their higher prices are actually a fair reflection of the quality and work involved in their production, alongside affordable choices that are ideal for everyday garments and accessories. I don't ever want anyone to feel like they aren't welcome in my booth at an event, or to share their projects using a cheaper yarn substitute, and I want to make sure that if you do need to be careful of your spending on yarn that I have options that will make the most of your money.

For yarns, stocking a range at different price points is mostly a matter of selection. We choose a variety, do what we can to keep shipping costs affordable, and accept that we’ll never sell the volume to compete with the lowest possible yarn prices out there. Even when we’re importing a yarn the price is a, relatively, straightforward calculation based on the price we paid, import costs and the exchange rate. For digital patterns, there’s no such simple calculation, but I want the values that affect how we choose yarn to permeate every aspect of the business.

The changes in my business have given me a lot of different perspectives on pattern pricing, and, at the same time, intensified my commitment not to devalue the work that all designers put into their patterns. Everyone’s business is different, but pricing a digital product is such a shot in the dark that I am conscious of how my pricing can affect the perceived standard. Choosing a price is always a balancing act: will this price affect how many patterns I sell? Will it make enough of a difference to matter in the end? Will my customers still be able to afford it? Will I sell enough to cover the costs of making the pattern?

Producing a knitting pattern might be more expensive than you’d think, and meeting the upfront production costs can take months or even years. It’s important to me that the people involved in producing my patterns are paid fairly for their work. That includes our in house team, sample knitters, tech editors, photographers and models. For a sweater pattern, especially one like Ravelston with multiple samples the upfront costs can easily be well over £1000.

Some patterns will be popular and sell more than enough copies to cover those fixed production costs. Some won’t. Even if a pattern is popular enough to cover the initial outlay, selling more copies isn’t pure profit: things like payment processing and Ravelry fees apply to each one, and the level of customer support can, at times, increase disproportionately to sales.

Pay what you can pricing

This idea was specifically inspired by recent conversations amongst designers and knitters, about inclusion and sustainability and particularly by Francoise Danoy who has introduced pay what works pricing on her gorgeous new Whakahoahoa Shawl. It is, of course, an idea that’s often used in other fields, the most famous example probably being Radiohead.

I genuinely don’t know if this is the answer to finding balance between communicating the true value of a pattern and including everyone but I thought it was worth trying and welcome your feedback. We discussed it at our team meeting last week, and the major concerns were: that it might foster a race to the bottom, after an initially generous period, where it would be hard for any designer to make more than the lowest “normal” tier; and that it was open to abuse by people who were happy and able to spend lots on more tangible items. Both of those are really valid concerns, and I’m not expecting this to be the right fit for every designer. For the latter: we certainly don’t want to put people in the position of having to ask for a lower price, or prove that they’re deserving. The nature of an honours system and human nature is that often the people who can most afford not to be are the cheapest.

How does it work?

Currently pay what you can pricing is available on Ravelston and Thebe. Just select the price that works for you and checkout as normal.

Is this available on Ravelry?

No, but you will be able to add your pattern to Ravelry after checkout. We’re not offering this via Ravelry because we’d have to do more manual processing of VAT. This may be available in the future.

Are there non-financial ways to support your work?

Yes! It makes a huge difference if you take the time to share your projects, on Ravelry, social media, or face to face. Writing reviews, sharing a post that resonated with you, suggesting stocking my books to your LYS – all of that makes a real difference to whether other people in your circle find both my creative work and online store. It’s always appreciated!

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https://ysolda.com/blogs/journal/gilliatt-sweater-round-up2019-05-03T15:40:00+01:002019-05-14T13:32:33+01:00Gilliatt Sweater Round-UpYsolda Ltd CollaboratorWe are so pleased to introduce Gilliatt, the worsted weight version of Cyrano (Aran) and Ulysse (Sport). De Rerum Natura is a small yarn producer with a thoughtful approach to sourcing and raw materials. All the manufacturing stages are carried out in France, keeping processing and energy use to a minimum. The wool in each yarn line is a blend of French and European merino, produced in the most ecological way with concern for both the wellbeing of sheep and the environment.

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We are so pleased to introduce Gilliatt, the worsted weight version of Cyrano (Aran) and Ulysse (Sport). De Rerum Natura is a small yarn producer with a thoughtful approach to sourcing and raw materials. All the manufacturing stages are carried out in France, keeping processing and energy use to a minimum. The wool in each yarn line is a blend of French and European merino, produced in the most ecological way with concern for both the wellbeing of sheep and the environment.

Gilliatt is a woollen spun 3 ply worsted weight yarn. All three yarns come in the same range of rich natural and dyed colours. Naturally white and brown merino, sourced from France and Portugal, are combined to create the soft, heathered neutrals and then overdyed for the vibrant heathered colours. Due to its woollen spin, this yarn light and airy; the open structure traps heat for surprising warmth. The rounded 3-ply structure is our favourite for thick 3-dimensional cables but it also shines in stranded colourwork and simple knit purl texture patterns.

If you’re itching to cast on, you can search Ysolda's patterns by weight, or we have a few ideas for garment designs in particular that recommend Gilliatt and showcase the versatility of this yarn. If you click on the pictures, they link to each design's Ravelry pattern page allowing you to check out other people's projects and further details.

A Note on Sizing:

We put together this list with the aim of including as many patterns as possible that are designed to fit at least a 56" chest with the intended amount of ease. This is smaller than our usual size range, but was still impossible to achieve. We’d desperately like to see more designers and publications improve their size ranges and we’re very sorry for any hurt caused by our original, dismissive, wording on this post. This is the first time we’ve done a round-up of patterns featuring a yarn we stock, and while pattern support isn’t generally our main criteria in choosing a yarn, we will be considering what is already available and whether to include substitution suggestions more carefully in future.

For further notes on fit, and choosing a size, please see this blog post Ysolda wrote. Each size given is the size of the finished garment, inclusive of ease.

There’s a lot to love about this versatile, gender neutral garment design from Stephen West. Sized 38-54” with a choice of either a closer fit (1 inch of positive ease) or more casual fit with up to 2-4” positive ease.

This is a great beginners' sweater pattern that was featured in Pom Pom’s learn to knit book, ‘Knit How’. There’s lot of possible modifications and the garments are sized from 38 – 70” with up to 10” positive ease.

The heavier lace look in this garment really showcases the airy quality of Gilliatt knit at a looser gauge. This is an oversize knit, designed by Jimenez Joseph, that can be worn over jeans or leggings and sizes run from 33.5” - 59” with chosen ease up to 5”.

Bookworm from HeidiKirrmaier gets extra points from us for its styling. A casual fit with up to 9 inches of positive ease and a pattern that recommends Rauwerk, Julie Asselin's Nurtured and Gilliatt - all of which we stock! Sizes run from 37¼ “ - 63½” with intended ease up to 9 inches.

A second sweater from Stephen West has plenty of options for colour play that allows you to explore the full colour range or supplement from your stash. Size range is 33-54” with 2” positive ease.

A roll neck sweater from Issue 4 of Laine Magazine The size range is relatively small, between 33.75 - 49.5 inches, and is designed to be worn with 3.25–4.75 inches positive ease.

Another reasonably sized sweater from Heidi Kirrmaier with a size range between 32¾” – 53” with 2- 6” positive ease depending on your preferred fit. Simple and classic, this is a versatile and pretty neutral garment design.

A roll neck sweater from the most recent issue of Pom Pom Quarterly, (Issue 28). The size range is relatively small, between 40¼ - 58½”, and is designed to be worn with 8-12” positive ease.

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https://ysolda.com/blogs/journal/10-house-plant-instagram-accounts-we-love2019-04-26T16:03:00+01:002019-05-03T15:44:47+01:0010 House Plant Instagram Accounts We LoveYsolda Ltd CollaboratorThe plant community is a regular rabbit holethatteam members Bex and Kate like to fall down onInstagramso we thought a roundup of some of our favourite plant accounts was in order. Look out for extra cross over knitters in the plant community. It’s one of our favourite middle points of any craft diagram: where growers and knitters meet.

Over the last few months,we’ve added a range of books aimed at both new plant parents but also thoseexisting growers whowant to learn more. From choosing your perfect plant match, learning how to nurture them as they grow and ideas for styling them at work and home, we’ve got you covered. We particularly enjoyed books like‘RootNurtureGrow’ by Caro Langton and Rose Ray that have a social element to them that encourage sharingof baby plants.Sharingsomething we’ve started doing as a team, mostly to justify our plant love.

The plant community is a regular rabbit holethatteam members Bex and Kate like to fall down onInstagramso we thought a roundup of some of our favourite plant accounts was in order. Look out for extra cross over knitters in the plant community. It’s one of our favourite middle points of any craft diagram: where growers and knitters meet.

jrlefrancois - Jonathon LeFrançois is a graphic designer by day and a plant lover we are constantly inspired by. We have a whole lot of time for his “introverted but willing to talk plants” tees too. Check out his online store for those!

houseplantjournal- This account is run by Darryl Cheng, author of The New Plant Parent We love Darryl’s approach to learning about light levels in your spaces, for your plants. This is a responsive approach that really feels loving and watching the impressive heights some of his plants have grown to is inspiring.

jungleinaroom - Jennifer is a shop manager at Little Leaf and her attitude to plants is so inspiring. Her photography is dreamy and we regularly feel sad we don’t have an overflowing window ledge of plants too.

wool.n.jungle – Fiona is that happiest of places on a venn diagram: plants, knitting, and pottery. Her account includes her own plant and knit life but also trips to places like Kew. Fiona is absolutely living the dream!

leighkiyoko – This account is by Erin Kobayashi who not only inspires us with her plants but also her interior design house renovations! Erin has also been posting really thoughtful and thought provoking stories around inclusivity that echo a lot of what’s being explored publicly right now in making communities. A definite fav.

prickldn – owned by Gynelle Leon (@bowbelle for her own account of pure baby and shop joy). This is London’s first cacti boutique and her book, Prick is a bestseller we happily stock . A definite account to watch out for new plant trends, styling tips and to treat yourself to a plant occasionally.

urbanjungleblog – An account that hosts peoples urban jungles from all over the world. Established by Igor Josif and Joelix, this has become a community for plant lovers who like to share digitally too. A very inspiring account.

studioplants – This account by Jeannie Phan is really seasonal and practical. Jeannie is very active in her stories and constantly making, growing and fermenting. This is a truly green account we find really encourages us to work a little harder to make our plant life suit a more green approach to life in general.

nelplant – Nelson lives in Ghent and has one of the most incredible avocado plant collection we’ve ever seen. Really we follow for #avogang updates if we are truly honest. The other plants are just the cherry on top.

studio.roco – This is the design studio of Caro and Rose, the authors behind two of our favourite books in the online shop. What really makes this account worth a follow is the amazing places and fellow growers that the pair visit and feature. Also, interior design fans will adore this one. It’s super stylish.

botanicalwomen – Another round up account we appreciate from the tags #botanicalwomen and #girlswithplants. This one has a diverse range of people who identify as women represented and it’s good to see a wide age range included here too. Plant life from all walks of life that really grabs our attention.

An account we love is @blackwithplants that features growers, house lovers and botanical enthusiasts who identify as black. Like many online communities, finding diversity can be tricky and we’ve appreciated finding many new to us black owned plant businesses, writers and online content creators to educate us about plantlife. Look out for the tags: #blackwithplants and #growthofbecoming. Others we mentioned above are: #avogang, #girlswithplants, #botanicalwomen, and #urbanjungle.

Need more plant inspiration?

We recommend the Bloom and Grow Radio podcast. Host Maria Failla travels the US as a performer and on her way, records live with guests. There’s a wide range of topics covered from growing a healthy online community to lessons in plant fails.

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https://ysolda.com/blogs/journal/adding-anti-racism-books-to-ysolda-com2019-04-12T14:19:00+01:002019-04-12T14:22:37+01:00Adding Anti-Racism Books to Ysolda.comYsolda Ltd CollaboratorA reshuffle prompts a lot of reflection and one question we asked ourselves was: ‘If we were starting from scratch, what would we want to say about Ysolda Ltd.?’ One thing we all agreed on was this theme of multiples. Ysolda has become as much known for her teaching and advocacy as she has her designs. As her business evolved to include a team, we’ve evolved to include our interests and passions. That’s why today you’ll find a multifaceted home page that more accurately reflects all that we encompass.

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With the recent overhaul of the website, the team got together to start really thinking about what having an online store meant. Ysolda.com is something that’s grown organically. First, we supported Ysolda knitting pattern sales before yarns, notions, books and wholesale distribution naturally followed. We now have multiple audiences too whether it’s on social media like Instagram, those who are here for the resources we share on the blog and those signed up to the newsletter (you can grab that link HERE if you’ve not signed up yet).

A reshuffle prompts a lot of reflection and one question we asked ourselves was: ‘If we were starting from scratch, what would we want to say about Ysolda Ltd?’ One thing we all agreed on was this theme of multiples. Ysolda has become as much known for her teaching and advocacy as she has her designs. As her business evolved to include a team, we’ve evolved to include our interests and passions. That’s why today you’ll find a multifaceted home page that more accurately reflects all that we encompass.

Conversation

One thing that has been a big feature of social media over the past 6-7 years has been conversation. Whether it was challenging unfair VAT decisions that penalised small businesses, supporting campaigners working to Repeal the 8th in the Republic of Ireland or sharing queer pride, Ysolda’s social media has been a place of solidarity and confrontation. This is a lot to hold and as a team we often share some of the many resources we’ve accessed that help us strive for a better future that is equal, respectful and allows every single individual to thrive. We realised this could also be included in our online presence and so began book and resource sharing accordingly.

Action

As we shared, we noticed a lot of people saying that they didn’t feel that they always had the right words when it came to discussions around race. We decided to collaborate with our favourite local book shop, the Lighthouse Bookshop, for our booth this year at Edinburgh Yarn Festival in order to host a selection of intersectional texts that primarily focussed on anti-racism. Lighthouse Books kindly helped us select a range that not only encouraged understanding but also facilitated a lot of self-reflection work.

Nervous about how this would be received, we set the books up alongside craft texts, pot plants and fairylights, and held our breath. The results were incredible and we are still so humbled by the many times people came back to sit and decide which book they most needed at this point in their journey. As people shared what they came home with, there amongst the skeins were nestled inclusive texts that have become pivotal for many of us as we learn to tackle our own internalised biases. The conversations that happened around these purchases were often rich and powerful. We particularly enjoyed seeing such an international crowd, mixing knitting with their conversations around race and inclusive futures for our community. It felt long overdue and something that allowed crossover between vital texts with a hobby we all love and take pride in.

As a team, we want to keep the conversations going that we were so lucky to host around these books at EYF, so we’ve added a range of titles that may well start you on a journey of self-discovery. There are essentials such as Audre Lorde whom team member Kate swears should be mandatory reading in schools and colleges. There’s ‘It's Not About The Burqa’ a recent anthology about the experience of Muslim women living in the UK. Whatever your starting point, we’ve tried to make sure there is a range of texts to add to your personal library at home. (We’ll be expanding our LGBTQ+ titles also so please do sign up to the newsletter if that interests you.) You will also find the children’s range of books that we’ve been slowly developing with diversity in mind since last year.

Open to All

You’ll find the books in our online store, in the nonfiction section here.

We’re selling these, and generally expanding our product range in different directions, because we hope to get more of the things we love and find important out into the world. However we know that buying even a small number of the books we want to read new is a luxury — we certainly can’t buy all the ones we want ourselves! We love libraries, and we love learning from online content too. Accessibility in terms of different mediums to suit different folks is also important to us and so here's some suggestions of resources in multiple formats to help you find what you need:

(As with all recommendations, we encourage you to be polite and respectful in somebody’s space. Be prepared to listen and reflect more than you actively comment and spend some time getting to know how people interact in this space before adding your voice.)

Rachel Cargle’s work on social media, her journalism and her Patreon have been a huge source of learning for many of us. You can find her website athttps://www.rachelcargle.com/

Particularly interested in how race intersects in our knitting community? Head to Unfinished Object Hosted by Grace Anna, Sukrita, Korina and Ocean, this is an evolving resource that is supported via Ko-fi donations.

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https://ysolda.com/blogs/journal/choosing-a-size2019-03-01T16:31:00+00:002019-04-17T14:22:37+01:00Choosing a size to knitYsolda TeagueConfused by which size of a sweater pattern to make? To get the best fit you'll want to know what size you are, and how to read the sizing information provided in your pattern.

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﻿Confused by which size of a sweater pattern to make? To get the best fit you'll want to know what size you are, and how to read the sizing information provided in your pattern.

What size are you?

Just like in ready to wear clothing, there isn't really a consistent sizing system that's used universally in knitting patterns, although if you often knit patterns by one designer or publisher you might be able to work out your size for that brand. The only way to know for sure what size you are is to take your measurements. Knitting patterns are usually sized by the finished chest or bust measurement, but sometimes the intended body measurement is given instead. In that case look to the schematic for the finished garment measurements. A schematic is a line drawing of what your finished sweater, or the individual pieces of your finished sweater, will look like, with measurements for all the sizes given on, or alongside, the illustration.

What's the difference between finished measurements and body measurements?

It's important to make sure you understand which measurements provided in your pattern are the finished measurements of the sweater, and which are of your body. They shouldn't all be the same, and the finished measurements of your sweaters will vary depending on the style and fit.

Ease

The difference between your body measurements and the finished measurements of the sweater is called ease. This is referred to as negative and positive ease. Negative means that the sweater is smaller, while positive means that it's larger than the body. Some patterns will tell you what size the model is wearing and their chest measurement while others will give a suggested amount of ease to help you choose your size.

Ease is partially a matter of personal preference. There are usually a couple of sizes in a pattern that you can choose between, depending on how fitted you like you're sweaters, but you don't want to stray too far from the designers intentions or the proportions will be very off. If you want an oversized style look for a pattern that's intended to be worn with lots of positive ease, rather than making a much larger size of a fitted design. Scroll down to see the same designs on different people.

Measuring existing sweaters

It can be helpful to measure garments that you like the fit of and compare those to the finished measurements provided in the pattern. Consider whether the garment you're measuring will have a similar fabric, in terms of thickness, drape and stretch, as your project.

Measure over close fitting garments, including, if applicable, the kind of bra or binder you'll wear with your sweater. Keep the tape measure level all the way around your body, snug but not too tight.

The measurements you'll take will depend on your body and the kinds of sweaters you want to make. Skip the ones that don't apply to you.

Before beginning use string and stickers to mark a few key points:

The natural waist. If you aren’t certain where your waist is bend to the side or feel for the curve at your lower back — this bend is the natural waist. Tie a piece of string around. Tie a second piece around the underbust, at the bottom of your bra’s underwire.

Run a finger from the side of the neck to the shoulder until you find the end of the bone and mark with a sticker.

On the side of your hip mark where you would want a regular length sweater to end.

Close to your armpit on your body mark where you would want the bottom of a close fitting armhole to be. Make this easier to refer to by tying string around your arm at this level.

If you think you might need some extra shaping for the bust mark your nipples with stickers. Yes really!

Comparing body measurements to the schematic

Compare your body measurements plus the amount of ease you'd like to the garment measurements given in the pattern. Remember to refer to the schematic for the most extensive list of garment measurements. Here's the schematic from Ravelston. Because there are a lot of sizes the measurements are given in a table below the illustration.

What size should you make if you have a larger bust?

Most knitting patterns aimed at women are sized by the bust measurement. This doesn't make much sense, and I go back and forth on whether to continue sizing my patterns like this. The full bust measurement can be dramatically different between two people who are otherwise close to the same size.

Unisex patterns and patterns aimed at men tend to be sized by the chest without being shaped to curves.

If you have a larger bust you'll find that choosing a size that matches your high bust measurement to the bust / chest size given is likely to be the best starting point.

Do you need to make changes to the fit of your pattern?

You probably won't find that all of your measurements fit neatly into one size of the pattern. Maybe you need longer sleeves, narrower shoulders, or more shaping at the bust. Choose a size that gives you the closest starting point.

If you're making a closer fitting garment you might need to make changes to the shaping or combine stitch counts from different sizes to get the best fit for your body. Look out for more posts on how to make specific changes and let us know if there's something in particular that you've been struggling with. You might also be interested in my book Little Red in the City which includes an extensive section on making changes to patterns.

A visual comparison

We thought it might be helpful to see the same designs on different people, and the same person wearing different sizes.

Wardie

You can also see me wearing this sample, styled a bit differently in the original pattern photos. It's the size 37 1/4" - that's around 2" of positive ease.

This is me wearing the size 46", that's closer to 10" of positive ease. Note that the sleeves are a little long but not ridiculously. Bex made this Wardie for herself, and shortened the sleeves to fit her shorter arms. If you want to make Wardie with a lot more positive ease to match this slouchier fit, which I love, you'll probably want to shorten the sleeves. The oversized fit pushes the top of the sleeve further down your arm so you need to compensate for that. Love the colour? It's Finull PT2 in 438.

We recently met up with our friend Aja Barber and she kindly posed for a few pictures. If you're interested in ethical fashion, conversations about race and intersectional feminism, or looking for styling help check out Aja's Patreon and instagram. Here she's modelling the same blue Wardie with less ease.

And here's the same one on Bex. You can tell they're a similar size but that Aja is a little taller with broader shoulders. She also made her top from the Concord pattern by Cashmerette, which is a great option if you're looking for a sewing pattern for a fitted tee sized for plus sizes / larger cup sizes.

Ravelston

For the pattern photos of my latest pattern, Ravelston, I modelled the grey v-neck. You can see that the yellow one has a looser fit with more positive ease on Noor than it does on me (this one has more or less zero ease at the full bust on me).

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https://ysolda.com/blogs/journal/introducing-phobos2019-02-27T13:22:00+00:002019-05-03T15:39:31+01:00Introducing PhobosYsolda Ltd CollaboratorMore]]>
Each year, we host a club with 4 shipments of yarn with 4 knitwear patterns designed and created by Ysolda. This time last year, our club members would have been working on the Phobos shawl. The patterns are exclusive to the club for 12 months, which means we've just released Phobos as an individual pattern for everyone to enjoy. Sad you missed out on the club yarn? Scroll down!

Phobos is a geometric, modularly worked wrap that makes the most of humble stitches. Phobos begins with a square worked in the round from the centre out, using a nifty cast-on method. This square is turned 45 degrees and a triangle is worked from each of two of the sides to square off one end of the wrap.

Ysolda knit these mini versions while working out the modular construction of the design

The stitches from the other two sides are then returned to the needles and a long, chevron patterned section is worked to form the main body of the wrap. A small triangle is worked separately to form the other end and the two points are connected with a triangle on either side. It all sounds rather confusing but it comes together easily with a minimum of picking up stitches and fussy acrobatics. The long sides are edged with I-cord that’s worked at the same time as the other pieces and the short ends are finished with a simple garter stitch border.

Here's the schematic from the pattern to help guide you through the construction:

We love what our previous club members had to say of their experience making Phobos:

nicki.norris said: I made this for the shawl club and it was so much fun! The construction and textural changes kept it interesting, and the end result is so wearable. I added eyelet rows which I’m proud of cos it emphasises the interesting construction.

farlizagain: I love this scarf. I wasn't sure it was long enough when I made it, but it's been my constant companion this winter. The yarn is so beautiful.

LoulouGing added fringe instead of the garter stitch borders. This was a way of solving a problem — gauge issues meant that the garter stitch wouldn't lie flat, but we love how the fringe looks!

We also had to smile at club member Chris Ninox who also enjoyed the play of light and shadow on the simple but striking lines on this shawl during blocking. If you’re thinking about getting a nice, crisp block on this shawl, we’d recommend our shawl blocking blog post from our Technique Thursday series.

You can download the pattern today to get working on your own and might be interested to learn we have a little stock of the original yarn left on the site. It’s there until it sells out and then we’ll be bringing a batch of the only remaining skeins to Edinburgh Yarn Festival this year. Spun for us by John Arbon, Diemos was a limited edition 80% Corriedale and 20% Zwartbles wool, lace weight yarn and will appeal to anyone who enjoyed Blend no.1. Each 150 gram skein has 820 yards (750 meters).

Knitting the shawl? Don’t forget to add the hashtag #phobosshawl so everyone can see your project either in Ravelry or Instagram.

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https://ysolda.com/blogs/journal/2018-club-round-up2019-02-08T11:38:00+00:002019-02-12T11:43:42+00:00We love seeing club packages enjoyed around the world!Ysolda Ltd CollaboratorIn preparing for the 2019 Club, we spent some time reflecting on our goals and what we’ve achieved so far. Our clubs are usually for the enthusiast knitter, someone who wants a challenge perhaps or a sense of momentum for their year.

In preparing for the 2019 Club, we spent some time reflecting on our goals and what we’ve achieved so far. Our clubs are usually for the enthusiast knitter, someone who wants a challenge perhaps or a sense of momentum for their year. They’re a great gift or treat and one thing we’ve enjoyed the most, is hosting a community around this annual event. With 4 shipments of yarn and pattern, we’ve had renewed opportunities to connect with knitters worldwide who are delving in to a surprise project and open to the possibilities. From the excited buzz of shipping notices to their arrivals on each continent, there’s a regular spread of inspiration and energy for knitting.

One of the best things about the club has been the wonderful, supportive community of members. You can knit along with your fellow club members and join in the conversation in our club Ravelry group. Check out the group to see some of the previous conversation and project sharing from our clubs over the past 3 years. We are always delighted when previous participants join us again for another year and help welcome new knitters to the making part of the club where we can discuss and swap ideas and techniques.

There’s still time to join us before we send out the first shipment (Sarah has been busy with the dyepots and it’s looking good!) We wanted to share some of the experiences of our previous club members so that you can see why this time of year is so exciting for us as we ship packages across the world.

Jonrunellen from Norway has been a member of the Club every year since the start and she wrote this for us to describe why she loves the club:

When Ysolda announced her plan for a club in 2015, there was never any doubt in my mind if I should join or not. It was more a matter of ‘Yes! Bring it on’. From what I already knew of Ysolda as a designer, I knew I would like the patterns, and I would certainly trust her judgement when it came to yarn! I’m so happy that I did.

I’ve been able to try yarns that I would never have the opportunity to otherwise try. I’ve also been lucky enough that upon occasion, the club has included yarn from other indie dyers that I’ve wanted to try. This in turn has also made me braver when it comes to ordering yarn from abroad, that I’ve not had the opportunity to touch and feel before.

Another important thing is the anticipation and the waiting. Whenever it’s been Ysolda yarn month, I’ve eagerly been checking the mail box for that squishy package. Usually it touches base fairly late here in rural Norway, but nonetheless, despite having seen the pattern and teasers online on Ravelry, the joy is no less than if the yarn had been there the first day possible.

I have a 30-minute commute to get to work, and I always have yarn in my bag so I can knit on and listen to an audio book on the train. This is my personal time, a bit cramped, as the trains are overcrowded, but hey, beggars can’t be choosers, and it all adds up to about 10 hours of knitting a week. If I’m lucky, I get some knitting done during the evenings. So, within two weeks, I’ve had a gorgeous finished product!

The last, but also a very important aspect of the club, is to be able to show off my very unique shawl to other knitters online, or during knit night. The praise of others knitters is quite satisfying

Here are some of our favourite photos shared by club members recently.

Shireen is based in San Diego, although I think her photo was taken during a holiday trip in Canada

Maho, a club member in Japan has a beatutiful feed - we love this photo of the beginning of her Fornjot.

One of my absolute favourite things about the club is when people post their pets appreciating the packages — it's such a thing and it always brings me joy! -Ysolda

Pets also like to "help" with blocking. Yarns spun by John Arbon seem especially popular with cats!

For 2019 we'll be returning to the format of the 2017 & 2016 clubs, with a range of accessory projects instead of a fully shawl-focused club. Each pattern will be matched with a limited edition yarn created specifically for the club. The yarns will include a variety of natural fibres with a focus on wool, and you'll receive a combination of natural undyed skeins and ones custom dyed in-house in colourways created by Ysolda.

The club yarns will remain exclusive to the club for at least 6 months after the shipment date. Accompanying each package will be an exclusive pdf pattern designed by Ysolda. Patterns will remain exclusive to the club for twelve months after the release of each pattern.

We have just released Phobos, which was the first pattern from last year's club.

Some club members had great comments to share about knitting Phobos last year:

nicki.norris said: I made this for the shawl club and it was so much fun! The construction and textural changes kept it interesting, and the end result is so wearable. I added eyelet rows which I’m proud of cos it emphasises the interesting construction.

farlizagain: I love this scarf. I wasn't sure it was long enough when I made it, but it's been my constant companion this winter. The yarn is so beautiful.

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https://ysolda.com/blogs/journal/how-swatch-for-a-sweater2019-02-07T07:07:00+00:002019-02-12T11:38:30+00:00How to swatch for a sweaterYsolda Teague

Swatches lie! One of the most common stories I hear, and one I've experienced myself, is that despite getting the right gauge on the swatch the sweater turned out unexpectedly huge or tiny. It's nearly impossible to control all of the variables that might affect the gauge in the swatch vs the finished garment but there are certainly some things you can do to maximise the honesty of your swatches.

If you can’t maintain a consistent gauge between a swatch and your garment it won’t matter whether you take good measurements or fit the pattern to your body.

Tips for swatching

All of these tips come down to knitting, and then treating the swatch, in a way that best matches how you'll knit, then wash, block and wear your sweater.

Relax — we've all experienced how stress can affect our knitting tension! Sometimes I see a similar effect when someone is either frustrated by swatching or focusing on knitting technique a lot more than they will be in the middle of a big garment.

Make the swatch large enough (at least 15cm) so that you are not measuring the stitches at the edges.

Wash the swatch, many yarns grow when wet and don’t spring back completely

Swatch in the round if all or part of the sweater is in the round. Here's a tutorial for my favourite way to do this.

Swatch main stitch patterns.

The gauge in a pattern is the final gauge on the sample garment. It might not be the same as the gauge while knitting

How do I keep track of the needle size I used?

I'm awful at this! I've had to redo so many swatches after calculating a new design because I know my gauge but not the needle size I swatched with. I try to always work the needle size into the swatch, so that there aren't any notes to lose track of.

I use a simple code = an eyelet is a whole size and a purl stitch is a quarter mm (if you use US sizes you could make purls a half size)

For the eyelets I just work a yarn over followed by a knit two together.

Which stitch pattern to swatch in?

If your sweater is worked entirely or mostly in stockinette that's an easy question to answer. How should you swatch if the design is worked in a different stitch pattern or multiple stitch patterns?

Sometimes a pattern will give gauge information for more than one stitch pattern. This is useful but your individual knitting style can make a big difference to how much yarn you put between knit and purl stitches, how big your yarn overs are, etc. All of those little variations can mean that two knitters might get the same gauge in stockinette but different gauges in a lace pattern, despite using the same needle size for each one. The best advice if you run into this issue is to think about which pattern dominates the sweater. If there is a really big difference you might also want to take a closer look at your technique. Sometimes you can also use different needle sizes, even if the pattern doesn't direct you to: a good example of where you might need to do this is using a larger needle size on a stranded colourwork yoke than for the plain sections.

Final gauge vs 'on the needles'

Treating the swatch like the sweater doesn't just mean knitting it in the way you'll knit the garment, it also means doing anything you'll do to the garment to the swatch. The needle size you use should be whichever size gives you the correct final gauge. However, I do recommend measuring the gauge before washing so that you can check that your sweater on the needles is on the right track, particularly useful if you tend to work on a project intermittently. Not all yarns will change gauge when washed but you it's common enough that I always check - I'd rather invest a little more time at this stage than get a nasty surprise at the end.

How to wash and block the swatch

The crucial thing to remember when blocking a swatch, especially if you knit a lot of lace, is that you don't need to stretch the fabric out. Let the swatch soak for a while, squeeze the water out with towel and lay flat to dry.

Drapier fibres, especially those that don't have a lot of crimp and natural elasticity that holds the fibres together and allows them to spring back when stretched out, have a tendency to grow over time. This is largely caused by gravity: the weight of the garment pulls the fabric downwards over time and it doesn't spring back. Even if you make your swatches nice and big there simply isn't enough fabric to mimic the effect of the weight of a garment so if you are concerned that the fabric will grow it's a good idea to test the swatch by hanging it up and adding weights.

Measure the gauge after taking it down and letting it relax a little.

How big should my swatch be?

Probably bigger than you've doing! Patterns tend to give gauge over 10cm / 4" but if you cast on that number of stitches you'll never end up with a square the right size. The stitches on the edges get too distorted. The bigger the swatch, then the more accurate it will be, but I find that about 15cm / 6" (in both directions!) is a good balance between sufficiently accurate and a swatch size that you'll actually do.

If you think my attitude to swatching sounds intense have you read Catherine Lowe's book The Ravell'd Sleeve? There are 29 pages more or less dedicated to swatching, but here's what she has to say about size:

"For the purpose of couture knitting and for any knitter who wishes to ensure the most accurate gauge measurements possible, the gauge swatch should measure at a minimum 10" x 10" / 25.5cm / 25.5cm, and preferably 12" x 12" / 30.5cm x 30.5cm.

At this size, a swatch will reproduce those technical idiosyncrasies that will determine the actual knitting gauge as the garment pieces are fabricated; the increased size of the swatch will likely oblige the knitter to those same manipulations of the working yarn and the needles involved in starting and stopping an actual garment piece; and the size of the swatch will also duplicate to a perceptible degree the effect the increasing weight of the knitted fabric will have on its gauge." (p. 47)

How do I swatch in the round?

First of all, unless you're specifically swatching for sleeves (and you might want to do that) don't knit a tube. For a swatch sized tube you'd be knitting with dpns, magic loop, 2 circulars, etc. No matter which method you prefer for knitting small circumferences in the round, I find that almost every knitter I've met knits tighter than they do when there are enough stitches to comfortably fit around a longer needle, like you'd be doing on a sweater body.

That might mean that you do want to swatch separately for sleeves knit in the round, or find you routinely need to go up a size for them.

It also means that we need another way to swatch in the round for the rest of a garment.

The major reason that gauge can differ between knitting stockinette flat and knitting it in the round is that when knitting flat you're knitting and purling. Most knitters have a small (or large!) difference between their knit and purl gauge. I knit swatches for garments in the round kind of like a giant i-cord — the result is a flattish swatch of stockinette where all rows are knit. Here's a more detailed tutorial on that method.

Do you have any tips for swatching to share? Read all of the posts related to the #ysoldasweaterkal here. I hope you'll join us and knit a sweater you love!]]>
https://ysolda.com/blogs/journal/sweater-kal-prizes2019-02-05T20:24:00+00:002019-05-03T15:49:07+01:00Sweater kal prizesYsolda TeagueMore]]>

In my last post, announcing the knitalong, I mentioned prizes and here's what you could win. Of course, getting a sweater you really love that loves your body back is a pretty great prize too!

Having an online store means that it can be hard to share with you just how special the yarns we choose are — nothing beats actually feeling and knitting a yarn yourself. So we thought it would be fun to put together a little selection pack for trying out and swatching yarns that might be new to you.

3 winners will receive a swatching pack which includes mini skeins (15 to 20g, plenty to knit a decent sized swatch or two) of 8 of our favourite yarns plus a set of exclusive sweater stitch markers made by Katrinkles featuring my sweater designs.

Yarn colours may differ from those shown but will include yarns from Julie Asselin, Rauma, Hillesvåg and yarns we'll be launching soon like Einrum and Nightshades.

Prize winners will be randomly drawn by April 3rd from finished projects posted to Ravelry and tagged ysoldasweaterkal. See my last post for full details on how to join in. No purchase necessary. Have you decided what to make yet?

Don't quite share my enthusiasm for swatching? Wish yours were more accurate? Our next knitalong post will be all about getting more accurate results from your swatches.

We’ve realised that as a team we’re all working on sweater projects right now, or about to start new ones and we thought you might like to join us for a bit of a knit-along. It’s freezing, all I can think about is layering on more wool, and we’re also hoping to have new sweaters to wear and display at EYF because no one appreciates a new sweater like a crowd of knitters. You certainly don’t need to be coming to EYF to join us, but if you are we’d love to see what you’ve made and Kate will be in the booth with her camera hoping to snap your amazing work. She’s pretty excited about that! We’ll also have a range of sample sweaters from Ysolda’s patterns and issue 7 of Laine for you to try on.

How to join us? This is all about celebrating the joy of making sweaters for yourself so we’re keeping the rules super relaxed. Make a Ravelry project for a sweater using one of Ysolda’s patterns, OR a pattern from any book or magazine we stock, OR using any pattern in a yarn that we sell (we’re not going to check where you bought the yarn or how deep in your stash it was!), OR using any pattern and yarn with a technique you learned from us.

Tag your Ravelry project #ysoldasweaterkal

We’ll be using the same tag on instagram and sharing your posts, but ONLY projects tagged on Ravelry will be eligible for prizes (yes - there are prizes, look out for more about those soon!)

Where and when

We’ll be working on our projects throughout February and March and sharing them on the Ysolda instagram account, our individual accounts and in the Ysolda Ravelry group — come over and introduce yourself now. Cast on anytime, or use this as motivation to complete a languishing wip, share your progress and goals to keep each other on track and aim to be done by the end of March. All projects posted to Ravelry and tagged that are finished by the end of March will be eligible for prizes.

Planning to buy supplies for your project? Use the code “ysoldasweaterkal” to receive a 50% discount on any individual garment pattern when you also buy at least 4 skeins or balls of any yarn. Promotion runs until the end of February, cannot be combined with any other promotion or applied retroactively. Add both pattern and yarn to your cart then enter the coupon code at checkout — do not click the button to go directly to paypal because you’ll skip the spot for the coupon code.

What’s coming up? We’ve got new patterns and yarns we’ll be launching over the next few weeks, including Ravelston, pictured above. We’ll also be sharing lots of tips and tutorials for successful sweaters — especially for fitting your body, whatever your size and shape. Spending the time to knit a sweater for a friend or family member is such an act of love, it should be for your own body as well. Find me on instagram for further sneak peeks or subscribe to the newsletter so you don’t miss next week’s pattern release.

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https://ysolda.com/blogs/journal/knit-how-cast-on-party2019-01-21T15:17:00+00:002019-01-28T15:07:15+00:00Knit How Book and Cast On PartyYsolda Ltd Collaborator

Read about why Pom Pom's latest release, Knit How, is our new favourite beginner knitting book — that's not just for beginners!

There are many things to love about the work produced by Pom Pom Magazine. We are constantly impressed with the consistency of their commitment to nourishing the knitting community. Their attention to detail is laser sharp alongside a tone of playfulness. Most of all though, it’s their energy for this hobby that we feel deep down. Pom Pom loves knitters. They have a knack for creating publications, real life events and digital extras that show the entire world, the power that is knitting. That’s why their latest release, Knit How, is rapidly becoming a team favourite amongst craft reference books.

Knit How is specifically aimed at teaching beginner knitters, which it does incredibly well. We’ve seen great work by people welcoming in new knitters over the years and what draws us to this book is their particular attention to the community aspect of our knitting.

They are providing a knitting reference book whilst acknowledging this is an entry point into a new community for many readers. That community is inspiring, multifaceted and full of opportunity. The Pom Pom team have worked hard to show a diverse community with their choice of words and models. They’ve also thought a lot about who steps into the knitting world with this book in hand.

The images are clear and, as a whole, Knit How is modern without moving into gimmicks or trends that won’t hold up in years to come. If you have a new knitter in your life, this is our recommendation for a how-to-knit guide. The instructions are simple and easy to follow.

The projects are wearable and combined with the tutorials, shepherd you through the journey from absolute beginner through simple accessories to garments and socks. In this way, it moves beyond being a book just for beginners and into a book that we can turn to time and time again.

﻿Image of the Pom Pom team from their 5th anniversary party.

What’s more, Pom Pom are launching the book with the knitting community in mind by inviting LYSs to join them for a cast on party. With so much talk in recent days about the need for safer spaces and making room for bipoc in online and offline spaces, this seems like an opportunity. This is a way in which we can open up and help shape the kind of knitting future we want to see as a community. This is the point where we would like to acknowledge some specific words that helped us really appreciate the power of this book and style of launch. Caleisha, who hosts Quirky Monday Crafts, shared her journey in searching for other bipoc in this community on her Instagram page recently. (You can find the whole piece in her highlights, ‘I am here’

“I came to this community, looking for a place to belong. Looking for others who were crazy in love with the action of creating.... And I found lots of those people but something was still missing. I didn’t see myself represented. So I regularly searched things like ‘black girl crochet’. Or ‘do black people knit?’ or ‘black people crafting’. Or ‘African American DIY craft blog’ just trying to find a glimpse of someone who looked like me, engaging this space that I was growing to love”

Reflecting on how we began knitting and who we hoped to find versus what we saw is something I’m sure we can all relate to. For many of us who’ve been knitting for some time, I’m sure we can all relate to the initial excitement of connection with our flock in online spaces. We searched for ourselves, for people who understood our hobby and what it personally meant to us. From my experience, I remember feeling like the image of who knitting was for was shifting. Younger knitters were claiming these spaces as a DIY blogger movement was exploding. Yet, we now need to reflect on who was left out in what has developed since that shift.

That’s why we as a company are reflecting on accessible resources, visibility and multiple languages. With that in mind, we thought it might be helpful to highlight a few others, in addition to Pom Pom, who are doing their part to welcome in all new knitters.

Kinda, @kindahamaly, is helping us consider accessibility through language. Her knitting channel, Shal, is in Arabic and is a destination resource for Arabic speakers.

Heidi, @Booksandcables, is a blogger and podcaster who has created substantial lists of bipoc fibre folks. We particularly enjoyed her blog project to showcase the diversity of the knitting community. (It helped us find Kinda!)

Cat, @theolivetreesandthemoon, is a homesteading crafter who has been compiling a list of podcasts in video and format from bipoc. You can find it in her highlights on Instagram.

Jeanette Sloan, @jeanettesloan, is a designer whose work we really admire. Jeanette has been advocating within our knit community for some time and on her Instagram highlights you will find a highlight of designers who are bipoc.

Lorna, @lhamiltonbrown, is another knitting diversity champion whose work is well worth following as she takes a social and historical approach to documenting bipoc knitters.

This list is a stepping off point and we welcome any comments pointing us to knitters whose resources have helped you with your knitting journey.

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https://ysolda.com/blogs/journal/knitworthy-5-blog-post2018-12-17T17:08:00+00:002019-01-28T14:13:03+00:00Knitworthy 5 round-upYsolda TeagueMore]]>
Today I released all 8 patterns in the Knitworthy 5 collection for individual purchase. Of course, if you like more than a couple of them, purchasing the complete collection represents the best value for money.

I'm so proud of the designs in this year's collection, especially the way that all of the designs reference elements in the others while simultaneously including a wide range of styles and techniques. We have all the yarns featured in stock too so I've included links to those in case you've fallen in love with a sample and have to have it. Where a pattern uses multiple colours we've made ordering super easy with yarn packs.

Perfect for keeping your neck warm on windy days without having to worry about the ends of a shawl or scarf coming loose. Radost is worked from the top down, starting with a neat folded edge worked using a provisional cast on. It knits up quickly with small sections of garter and brioche stitch and makes a great first brioche project. Increases at the centre front create a flattering and cosy bandana shape — it looks a bit strange flat but drapes perfectly when worn. Shown in Cyrano from De Rerum Natura, a round, 5ply structure that creates well-defined stitches and deeply textured ribs.

Super cosy pull on boot shaped slippers worked from the sole up with geometric colourwork on the cuffs. I absolutely love the way the marling and colourwork combination worked on these. The grey is super effective, but I've also seen some amazing vibrant versions. The sole uses 3 colours held together for a firm, durable fabric. The darkest of these colours is dropped for the foot and then used as the contrast colour for the stranded colour work cuff. Yarn packs in the grey combo shown are available here.

A slightly slouchy beanie that combines patterns inspired by Nordic round yoked sweaters and the crowns of fair isle tams. The bold design around the bottom is worked using three colours at once — I promise it is completely worth the hassle, and a small project like a hat is a great way to practice a challenging technique. The use of negative space highlights the trees, and features a fun way of managing long floats invisibly. This technique, called ladderback jacquard is more commonly found in machine knitting, and essentially creates a free-floating chain of stitches in the pattern colour behind the background colour. Yarn packs in both colour palettes of Tukuwool shown are available here.

Ilo is a classic cabled hat with two styling options: a neat beanie or a watchcap with folded brim. I couldn't resist adding a pom-pom to the cream version for ski-hat cuteness.

Ilo is worked from the bottom up with shaping worked into the cables for a beautiful crown. We used Julie Asselin Nurtured which might create the most pleasingly 3-dimensional cables ever. It's a sturdy, rounded three ply with an almost cottony feel. Bobbles can be divisive, but I'm in love with them on this hat, in this yarn. They give such great texture and are really fun to work.

Looking at the collection as a whole this shawl, to me, is the one that ties everything together. Ribbing, zig-zags, diamonds, texture and small motifs scattered over the fabric are the common design elements that all come togeher here. I love the simple, classic shawl shape combined with less common stitch patterns - the cables and texture make for a rather rugged shawl for wearing on daring adventures, or your daily commute.

Make the most of a single skein of a luxurious yarn. The Poza cowl is worked in the round from the bottom up with gentle shaping to taper it towards the neck. It’s long enough to drape in beautiful, soft folds or to pull up on the coldest days

Poza is worked in A Verb For Keeping Warm Floating, and to go with the pattern we have their holiday collection of colours. Naturally dyed in their California studio on a luxurious base these are seriously beautiful skeins. One of the things I love about natural dyeing is that each colour reflects a broader spectrum of light than the same colour would in a synthetic dye. On this subtly shimmery base the effect is hightened. The colours are lively and constantly shifting depending on the light. Absolutely impossible to truly convey in photos, but I promise they're all beautiful. You need only one skein for Poza!

This year’s theme for Knitworthy 5 pattern names was Joy (in different languages) and these pictures of the final pattern certainly bring me joy.

Fingerless mitts featuring a simple stranded colourwork pattern and a cute flag detail on the cuffs — we’ve shown three colour options, but there are lots of other pride flags you could easily sub in to customise them for your gift recipient. Design-wise these were a challenge. I really wanted to make something that explicitly featured the flags, and not just something that might be read as a cute rainbow. The thing is... everything I swatched was more cheesy and garish than cute. I eventually ended up here, with a small detail that combines a provisional cast on, intarsia, a folded hem, and double knitting within a few rounds. You’ll want to pay attention but the results are totally worth the effort. The colourwork echoes the striping of your chosen flag and increases are worked in a single column to shape the thumb. The mitts are completed with a ribbed cuff that’s long enough to fold up over cold fingers.

Someone on your gift list is sure to appreciate these. Receiving them might be a welcome acknowledgement of their own identity (do be sensitive about outing someone at a family gathering though!), or perhaps you know someone in a position like healthcare or teaching where wearing them will be a subtle way to signal that everyone is welcome.

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https://ysolda.com/blogs/journal/can-you-help-me-show-my-sweater-patterns-more-inclusively2018-12-13T16:22:00+00:002019-01-28T15:02:53+00:00Can you help me show my sweater patterns more inclusively?Ysolda Teague

I've always been committed to offering size inclusive garment patterns, but it can be very hard to visualise how a new pattern will look on your body. I'd love your help with that! We do use test and sample knitters as part of the pattern development process already, but I've always been a bit wary of doing a public call or relying on free labour to make my patterns.

However, I have some new sweater patterns that will be released in the new year and I'd really like to be able to share a wider range of projects when they're launched. We're doing other things to make my sweater photos more representative of the knitters who might make them, but there are only so many samples we can afford to make and models we can hire.

Consequently I'm putting out a call for preview knitters, and calling it that specifically because I want to be upfront that it's more about sharing your garments than testing patterns. Of course if you do find an issue or something is confusing we want to hear about it, but you'll be knitting from edited patterns not early drafts.

I'm specifically looking, at the moment, for preview knitters who would be interested in knitting either Ravelston (pictured above) which is essentially a pullover version of Stockbridge, or a dk weight version of the Stockbridge cardigan. The pullover also includes options for a folded hem and V-neck. Both patterns have waist shaping and are written for sizes from approx a 30-60" chest. We're looking for knitters who think they could complete one in about a month.

If you feel like you don't see yourself in the knitting world I'd particularly love to hear from you.

If you're not interested in knitting one of the sweaters I mentioned here, but would like to be added to our list of potential preview knitters please do fill out the form. There's a box at the bottom to note that.

The Radost cowl from Knitworthy 5 begins with a neat edging that's really just a very narrow folded hem. It makes a clean, sturdy finish that I love for garter stitch. The first step is to cast on using a provisional method with scrap yarn. My favourite method is to work a crochet chain around the needle. I have a full tutorial here and I also took a quick video while I was casting on Radost so you can see how quick this method is (with practice!)

After casting on you knit across the stitches in the working yarn and join it in the round.

After several rounds the cast on is undone and the resulting live stitches are returned to the smaller needle.

The needles are held with the left tips parallel so that the knitting folds up on itself with the RS facing out. You knit around knitting each stitch from the larger needle together with a stitch from the smaller needle behind.

There's then a nice mindless section of garter stitch until you get to the brioche. The first set-up round (round 36 in the pattern) is worked as follows: Round 2 (round 37 in the pattern): Round 3: To maintain the ribbed nature of the brioche stitch a pair of stitches need to be added with each increase. On round 39 a brp-yo-brp is worked at the centre of the cowl as follows: The next increase is worked on a brk round so a brk-yo-brk is worked: Binding off brioche can be tricky. A regular bind-off can create a messy, ruffled edge. On Radost I worked a sewn tubular bind-off, aka an Italian bind-off. There are two ways to work this bind-off which essentially involves grafting the knit stitches to the purl stitches. The easier way to do this requires more set-up: the knit and purl stitches are slipped to two separate needles before grafting. Here's a tutorial for that method, for Radost you'll simply treat the sl1yos as purl stitches, working the yarn overs and purls together as for a brp.

The faster method is shown on Radost in the video below; rather than slipping the stitches to separate needles you graft them on one needle. I strongly recommend making a note of where you were in the sequence if you need to stop in the middle!

What are you planning to knit this summer? How about joining me for a fun, easy-going shawl mystery. Summer is for staying outside until late into the evening, even as the light fades, a chill descends and you need something cosy around your shoulders. Join us for an easy-going mystery shawl that's perfectly suited to take along wherever your summer adventures lead you. When you’re done you’ll have a lovely, big shawl to wrap up in for the rest of the summer.

Sign up now at a special early-bird price by purchasing the pattern on Ravelry.The first of 6 clues will be released on June 25th, and you’ll receive them as weekly pattern updates. We’ll be adding more information about swatching a week before the cast-on date so you can get ready together.

You’ll want 3 100g skeins of fingering / 4ply yarn — you’re looking for subtle gradients rather than strong contrast. Anything marketed as a fade set should work great! Speckles and some variegation are just fine.

I used La Bien Aimee Merino Singles in Flora, Doe and Fauna. It’s so pretty, and picks up my favourite colours from a long Scottish evening. Love it? La Bien Aimee dyed a bunch just for us — order your set here.

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https://ysolda.com/blogs/journal/patterns-using-nurtured2018-02-12T12:11:00+00:002018-11-23T11:10:29+00:00A round-up of pattern inspiration for NurturedYsolda Teague
We recently added Julie Asselin's Nurtured to the store. Looking for ideas of what to do with this lovely, rustic but luxurious, worsted weight? Here are some of our favourite patterns featuring Nurtured that show how well it works for both colourwork and texture.

We recently added Julie Asselin's Nurtured to the online store. I first discovered this yarn at Knit City in Vancouver, right as we were planning to sell yarn, and I knew instantly that one day it would be part of my dream yarn range. Of course, we've had to build things up slowly, rather than buying everything I love at once, but it feels like something of a milestone to add this particular yarn.

Nurtured is the result of an unusual collaboration between dyer Julie Asselin in Quebec and Green Mountain Spinnery in Vermont. Fine fleece from Rambouillet, Targhee and Merino breed sheep is dyed by Julie and her partner Jean-François in vibrant colours which are then shipped to the spinnery and blended to create a range of subtle shades. The blending process means that the same base shades are used in several colourways so they all combine well.

Knox Mountain Knit Co’s Kettle Valley shawl makes the most of Nurtured's rounded 3-ply structure in a bold cable pattern that clearly shows the designer's railroad inspiration. This striped version uses Naturel, Homme Fort and Compass but if stripes aren't your thing there's also a solid option pictured — I'm really into the fringe on that one too.

For a more open shawl try Amberle by Shannon Cook. This stitch pattern looks like it would be easy to memorise for a soothing, repetitive project that would be perfect to pick up while doing other things (the best kind of knitting as far as I'm concerned). Shannon also featured Compass, and combined it with Irma for a little less contrast than Naturel.

My dream project in Nurtured involves a shawl collar and cables — Thea Colman's Milk Stout is a gorgeous version of that concept. look at how smooshy those wide rib cables and garter stitch are. I *never* knit other people's patterns but I'm seriously considering this one. The Irma colour is a perfect classic neutral — I'd love to see this in one of the denimy greys or Compass too.

Joji Locatelli is the queen of the casual, easy sweater and this textured, striped pullover is a great example of her very wearable designs. Joji combined Irma with mid-grey Fer a Cheval. You can't go wrong with any combination of a light and dark for stripes in this palette.

Julie Asselin has also published a beautiful mini collection featuring the work of some of my favourite Canadian designers. The Nurtured Collection includes a cosy cowl by Hilary Smith Callis, a pullover with interestingly fractured cables by Veronik Avery and a neat, preppy vest by Glenna C.

It's entirely possible that no one gets this, but after months of neglect I've finally found time to integrate my blog archives into the main website, with the goal of getting back into the habit of posting. I miss you and I miss having a place for longer content than instagram allows, and for things you might want to be able to find again in the future, like tutorials.

Hopefully I've managed to do this all right and, if you were previously subscribed to the rss feed, you're received this update. If so can you let me know with a comment? Most links to blog posts should also be redirected but if you notice a broken one somewhere it would be very helpful if you could let me know.

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https://ysolda.com/blogs/journal/beautiful-projects-self-striping-yarn2017-05-18T13:00:00+01:002018-11-23T11:25:50+00:00Beautiful Projects – Self-striping yarnDaniel Mackay
I’m sure lots of knitters would agree that a pair of plain socks, knitted simply in self-striping yarn are a wonderful thing. Some of my favourite self-striping projects though, are the ones where knitters use them in combination with other solid yarns, or make use of stitch patterns or different fabric directions to break up the stripes. Here are a few examples to inspire you, while I fight the urge to knit lots of Otto bears and arrange them in the tree outside my window…

Little Birds is one of my favourite patterns for browsing different projects, there are some truly wonderful versions and modifications! I love this one, knitted by vivaglam.

I don’t think I can explain how much I love these little Otto bears, made by Kephren of Kephren Knitting Studio. Such a wonderful use of self-striping yarn, these were made with Noro Kureyon Sock.

The Garter Stitch Mitts pattern is a perfect one for striping, or handspun yarn. Because of the direction the fabric is knitted, you could easily end up with a hidden colour on the palm, an idea that really pleases me for some reason! This lovely pair were knitted by strilla.

Tiny Shoes are such a quick, satisfying project, and perfect for stripes. This sweet green pair with a peek of orange were made by gingiemay.

I think feather and fan is one of the most perfect lace stitch patterns for striping yarn, breaking up the straight stripes into lovely waves. This gorgeous wee Liesl really shows this off, and was made by MinSedai.

Pezdiva used a striping yarn for her Tiny Shoes project, and I love how the stripes don’t match, but they’re clearly a pair. Such a sweet idea for a hand knitted baby gift!

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https://ysolda.com/blogs/journal/beautiful-projects-home-dyed2017-05-11T22:08:00+01:002018-11-23T11:27:59+00:00Beautiful Projects – Home-dyedDaniel Mackay
I’m writing this post from a desk, splattered with many, many different colours – one of the results of Ysolda’s experiments with yarn dyeing earlier this year. Since lots of knitters like to experiment with their own dyepots, I had a look at some wonderful projects that have been home-dyed. I hope you find them as inspiring as I do!

‘It was a labor of love. The many colors and varied fibers (including the tiny bit of sparkly Angelina) give the fabric a quality that’s hard to achieve in a commercial yarn, and it still receives compliments when I wear it.’

It sounds like the work that beetsie put into dyeing her own yarn for this Ishbel was definitely worth it! (And as an aside, the lovely model featured in the photo is her daughter Katy Westcott, otherwise known as Katrinkles, maker of beautiful wooden buttons, gauges and knitting ornaments…)

Chihoci dyed this gorgeous blue onto a merino, cashmere and silk yarn and knitted it up into this amazing Ishbel for a friend.

We love the subtle colour changes in this Rose Red dyed and knit by Lambstrings. She used grape kool-aid to get the lovely purple, and it was her first ever try at dyeing. (She’s since gone on to have her own yarn-dyeing business, Lambstrings Yarn.)

This lovely Damson was knitted with lace weight yarn, held double and beautifully knitted and dyed by christellie.

This Follow Your Arrow 2 shawl was dyed and knit by TBVD with a merino yarn, which she dyed and then overdyed to get the lovely subtle blushing pink colour.

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https://ysolda.com/blogs/journal/beautiful-projects-sherilyn2017-04-27T14:41:00+01:002018-11-23T11:29:22+00:00Beautiful Projects – SherilynDaniel Mackay
It’s not possible to have too many shawls, right? Sometimes it seems that despite the number of them I’ve made, I never seem to have one handy! Sherilyn from Whimsical Little Knits 3 is one of our favourites, with each of us in the studio having made at least two. I still dream about the version Bex made as part of a KAL we had on Ravelry. (The helpful posts and links can still be found here, if you’re planning to knit one.)

I picked just a few for this week’s post, but there are so many wonderful versions.

Clelyra’s version of Sherilyn is stunning, the colour and yarn choice really show off the structure and flow of the stitch patterns.

This version by mitumame is knit up in another great yarn choice, Jamieson & Smith 2 ply Lace Weight, perfect for a crisp and cosy shawl.

A freshly blocked shawl is such a lovely thing! This beautiful Sherilyn was knit by Cassiopia.

This gorgeous red version by AlwaysAutumn caught my eye straight away. And then when I realised it was knit in her own handspun it seemed really wrong not to show the sweet alpacas and their fibre that helped to make it.

This Sherilyn pictured in the Portuguese sunset is simply stunning, and was knit by malhaderia.

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https://ysolda.com/blogs/journal/beautiful-projects-yarn-leftovers2017-04-20T21:54:00+01:002018-11-23T11:38:36+00:00Beautiful Projects – Yarn leftoversDaniel Mackay
Using up every bit of your yarn can be such a satisfying thing when finishing up a bigger project, though it can be a risky game to play! A much less stressful (and recommended!) way of doing things is to make sure you have plenty of yarn, with some left just in case, or just to play with later.

With this in mind I had a look through the projects that have made great use of leftovers, and it doesn’t just have to restrict you to small projects. The gorgeous Ishbel below made by oneknitwit shows how you can use small amounts of different yarns, held together in different ways, to make something truly beautiful.

Ripley isn’t just a great project for leftovers, it’s a quick knit too. This sweet version was knit by wmcurella in yarn she had leftover from a baby blanket.

Using different yarns for the body and edging of a shawl like Ishbel is a great way to use up half-skeins of yarn, as well as make something truly unique. This lovely Ishbel was made by oneknitwit, using three different yarns either on their own or holding multiple strands together.

Another Ishbel, this time knit by berlinbombshell. She switched to a contrast edging when she didn’t have enough of the main colour and the result is lovely it looks like it was meant to be.

Knittybaker had the perfect amount of sock yarn left after finishing up a cardigan for this beautiful Ishbel, with added beads!

This sweet pair of Cadeautje use a different kind of leftovers – scraps of roving leftover from doll making. These adorable and very cosy looking slippers were made by elisebonneville.

Tiny Shoes must be one of the most perfect projects for little leftover bits of yarn, this pair used just 10g. This adorable pair were knitted by TheKnittingSarah for her niece in some yarn leftover from a scarf project.

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https://ysolda.com/blogs/journal/cocoknits-sweater-workshop-a-comprehensive-guide-to-a-favourite-sweater-construction2017-04-14T16:53:31+01:002018-02-12T14:38:10+00:00Cocoknits Sweater Workshop – a comprehensive guide to a favourite sweater constructionysoldateague
I’ve long admired Julie Weisenberger, aka Cocoknits, for her wearable designs and down to earth approach to accessible garment knitting, and sense of humour! Julie’s a popular teacher, and is known for giving knitters the confidence to make their own sweaters using her well thought out methods for “elegant—and manageable—knitting patterns.” In her first book, Cocoknits Sweater Workshop, Julie aims to reach more knitters than she can with in-person classes in a format that’s easier to refer to at your own pace.

The book focuses on one sweater construction method, which happens to be a personal favourite of mine. In a simultaneous set in sleeve construction the front and back pieces are worked flat to the shoulders, stitches are picked up for the top of the sleeve, and then the front, back and sleeves are all worked simultaneously to the underarm. It’s a fun way to knit a cleanly tailored garment without seams, with lots of potential for varying the initial shoulder shaping to create different style lines and / or fits. Ideally, for a good fit you want some kind of slope from the side of the neck to the edge of the shoulder.

The basic process for knitting a top-down simultaneous set in sleeve sweater.

The Cocoknits Method shapes only the back piece. This is sometimes called an English tailored shoulder, and as Julie describes in the book it’s very common in ready to wear knitwear and t-shirts but less frequently seen in hand knitting. You might recognise the diagonal back shoulder line from my Cria pattern which uses a similar construction—the garter stitch ridges make it clear that the horizontal edge of the front piece is attached to the diagonal edge of the back.

Emma version A from Cocoknits Sweater Workshop.

Personally I rather like the style line created, but there’s also a big construction advantage for knitters. According to my sizing chart, an average shoulder slope, i.e. the angle between the side of the neck and the outer point of the shoulder, is about 20 degrees. If that’s split equally between the front and back, so the shoulder seam runs along the centre of the shoulder, the slope is too shallow to shape with increases or decreases and must be shaped with short rows. However, by moving all of the shaping to the back a steeper slope is required which can be shaped with increases, for a top down garment, or decreases, for a bottom up one. The other advantage is that, if the front piece is longer than the back and wraps over the top of the shoulder, then the back neck will be naturally lowered without any effort.

Here’s how it works. If the slope shaping is split equally between front and back both pieces will look something like this.

Once seamed together (or when working top-down, they the front might be picked up from the back) it would look like this when laid flat. On the body the seam line would run along the centre of the shoulder. The finished garment laid flat would fold along the seam line to create that 20º shoulder slope.

Moving all of the shaping to the back piece would look more like this, while the front would be straight.

Once those pieces are joined together the seam line is swivelled towards the back, at the shoulder edge. You can see how the centre line of the shoulder and the seam diverge, but that once folded it would result in the same 20º slope. The shape of the garment hasn’t changed, just the placement of the seam / style line.

Of course you could shape either slope with short rows, but here’s the magical thing. Increasing on every row (every single row, not every right side row), as Julie does in the patterns in the book, results in this:

A protractor, apparently, is not in my usual design toolkit but you can see that this is not quite half of the 90º T square—it’s pretty much exactly the 40º slope we wanted. Isn’t that satisfying?

Cocoknits Sweater Workshop is both a pattern book and a detailed how to guide for the construction method, illustrated and explained exceptionally clearly.

Melanie Falick, who, in her role at STC Craft, brought many of my most beloved knitting and craft books to life, edited. It’s a joy to see that her signature balance of beauty and clear instructions transfers so well to a self-published project.

The patterns are exactly what you’d expect from Cocoknits, simple and wearable with well thought out details. There are five base patterns with different shoulder shaping, some of which features variations which result in quite different garments and are sure to inspire knitters to create their own styles. This is Emma, intended as an introduction the method, I think it would also be a great first-ever-sweater pattern.

A unique worksheet is included to help you keep track of the different body and sleeve shaping in the yoke at a glance. There’s a version you can photocopy in the back of the book and each pattern includes instructions for exactly what to write in. I can see this being very helpful if you want to make adjustments to stitch counts to fit your body.

Not surprisingly Julie is a kindred spirit when it comes to being incredibly detail oriented. None of the techniques used in the book will be especially challenging for newer knitters, but she is particular about which she prefers. Fortunately clearly photographed tutorials are included for all cast-on, increasing, short row, bind-off, and finishing techniques used.

Although the book delves deeply into the how of this construction method it isn’t specifically a design book. Julie does tantalisingly hint, in the introduction, that one might in the works. Even so, as a designer, I love this addition to my library, and I’m sure it will serve as an excellent jumping off point for many knitters who want to knit the garments they imagine.

Slowly I’ve been growing the collection of books offered in my online store to include those that I love and use frequently myself. Adding this one was a no-brainer and you can order it here. You may also be able to find it in your local yarn store, or you can order it directly from Cocoknits. That’s going to make a lot more sense than buying it from me if you’re in the USA.

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https://ysolda.com/blogs/journal/beautiful-projects-springtime2017-04-06T10:00:00+01:002018-11-23T11:56:39+00:00Beautiful Projects – SpringtimeSarah Stanfield
Happy springtime! I love this time of year when we (sometimes) start to feel the sun, my instagram feed fills up with pictures of lambs and the days get longer. And ever since the Edinburgh Yarn Festival my needles have been moving at super-speed, finishing up old projects and working on shawls, toys and light sweaters for the children I know. It seems like there is inspiration everywhere, so today I thought I’d share a few of my favourite projects inspired by spring.

Seeing the toy designs knitted up in bright, more unusual colours is one of my favourite things, so I couldn’t resist this adorable mousie knitted by kippiann, especially when he’s obviously made a friend already.

Everything about this project makes me smile with thoughts of springtime. This little Sophie was knitted by Dona and I’m now adding a pom pom tail for Sophie projects to my list of wonderful ideas!

And finally, a very spring-like Strokkur that I absolutely love (and not just because there’s a sheep peeking in the background.) Bossyfemme told me that ‘I knit that sweater in Seattle Seahawks colours because I was moving to Seattle & was hoping to meet sports friends & knitting friends simultaneously. I wear it constantly.’

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https://ysolda.com/blogs/journal/beautiful-projects-bruntsfield2017-03-30T16:18:00+01:002018-11-23T12:03:36+00:00Beautiful Projects – BruntsfieldDaniel Mackay
Since finishing my first fair isle vest last month I’ve worn it almost every day, making me wonder how I ever managed without one! Vest really are such a wonderful garment for layering at this time of year and now that my Cruden is finished, it’s time to move onto Bruntsfield. While I figure out yarn choices I’ve been looking at the finished projects on Ravelry, so thought for today I’d share some inspiration.

Mairwen’sBruntsfield was one of Ysolda’s favourite knits-in-the-wild, when she spotted her at the New York Sheep and Wool Festival last year. The greens and natural colours she’s chosen are so beautiful!

Jette245 chose Jamieson and Smith Heritage Naturals for her Bruntsfield project, and it really was a wonderful choice! Those sheep colours are going to be perfect for any fair isle project.

It’s wonderful when knitters use colour choices that are very different from the original, and it’s something that can be quite challenging. Nzmoby has done a great job with this high contrast version.

We love fiddlehead’s stylish Bruntsfield, in a monochrome colour palette that’s going to work with pretty much every outfit…

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https://ysolda.com/blogs/journal/beautiful-projects-blend-no-12017-03-23T10:00:00+00:002018-01-12T16:49:38+00:00Beautiful Projects – Blend no.1Sarah Stanfield
Amazingly it’s now been over a year since Ysolda launched Blend no.1, when many knitters got to squish and stroke it for the first time at the 2016 Edinburgh Yarn Festival. We had it on the stand again this year, and we’re so grateful that knitters still wanted to take it home – which means that we didn’t have a huge amount to unpack back at the studio.

Our remaining Blend no. 1 stock is now very low, we’re currently double checking our remaining inventory. The final skeins will go on sale at 6pm BST on Wednesday 29 March. As this project comes to a close I thought it would be a good time to look at some of the amazing projects knitters have made with it. Whether you have a few skeins in your stash for a future sweater or just one that you’re keeping for something special, hopefully these knits should give you some inspiration.

First up, this is Wanderling by Isabell Kraemer, knitted up with some modifications by Lino. I love this cardigan – stylish and elegant but simple, and with some really lovely details, especially the cable up the yoke decreases…

This is Clio, knitted by jarmeblue. She told me that “the yarn worked beautifully in the pattern, and I love how the textures highlight the silvery glow of the yarn. I work for Elizabeth Doherty, the designer of Clio, who is so smitten with my version that she returned home from Edinburgh Yarn Festival with a sweater quantity of Blend no. 1, posting a picture on instagram last week.” And the Uist wool Elizabeth included in the photo was a gift for jarmeblue, which she plans to use for a pair of Ysolda’s Ornas mitts.

MillieMilliani was very busy last year, knitting a blanket for each of the twins a friend was expecting. This gorgeous blanket in Blend no.1 was the first – Bairn, by Julie Hoover, or ‘a bairn for a bairn’ as MillieMilliani calls it…

If I could reach into my screen and borrow this shawl, I would. The pattern is Mermaid’s Tale from a mystery KAL designed by Kitman Figueroa, and this version in Blend no.1 was knitted by knittingfiona. The way the stitch patterns flow into each other is amazing.

Another stunning shawl, a Silver Oak designed and knitted by Christelle Nihoul (ChristalLittleK on Ravelry). Shawls featuring garter stitch bodies with lace or more intricate edgings are a favourite with lots of knitters, and this one has leapt into my queue.

And finally, bunnyknitter used her Blend no.1 to knit a Flora Cowl by Carrie Bostick Hoge. She used just two skeins and turned the stitch pattern into a scarf – a perfect idea if you want to use every inch of your yarn. The final skeins will go on sale at 6pm BST on Wednesday 29 March.

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https://ysolda.com/blogs/journal/beautiful-projects-inglis-mitts2017-03-02T22:22:00+00:002018-11-23T12:25:39+00:00Beautiful Projects – Inglis MittsSarah Stanfield
As you’ll have seen from Ysolda’s latest blog post, we are knee deep in preparations for the Edinburgh Yarn Festival. It doesn’t seem like a year from the last extravaganza, but it is – and so there’s been time for lots of you to knit up a pair of Inglis mitts, the pattern Ysolda designed for Wool Tribe, the companion publication for EYF. This week I had a look at some of our favourite pairs, or sets of pairs…as you’ll see!

Weaver85 knitted up her pair in Quince and Co Chickadee, a lovely substitute that shows off those cables beautifully. Photos were taken by peterc.

Another pair in Blend no.1, this time by saralu. I love how her photo highlights that lovely soft yarn halo!

SilverSpringKnit has had busy needles! She’s knit three pairs, telling me that ‘the grey are the Mitts for a Colorado winter, the blue are the Mitts for a D.C. winter, and the brown are the Mitts for a New York winter. But the pairs went to me, my daughter, and my daughter in law.’

Seems like the Inglis mitts are becoming a favourite pattern of some knitters, this pair were knit by jolakey who’s now made them four times!

And finally, a crisp, natural pair knit by knotforknothing as a store sample for Fancy Tiger Crafts in Denver. She’s made a second pair of her own already and has some nice yarn suggestions for future pairs on her project page. Photo was taken by Kaylee Lockhart.

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https://ysolda.com/blogs/journal/eyf-preview2017-03-02T17:57:00+00:002018-11-23T12:31:54+00:00EYF previewDaniel Mackay
All of a sudden Edinburgh Yarn Festival is just a week away and we’re busy labelling, pricing and packing as more and more exciting packages continue to arrive. We had 12 deliveries yesterday and I’ve gone from worrying that my booth will be a bit empty to wondering where we’ll find space to display everything. Before everything gets tucked away in boxes I took some photos to give you a taste of what’s to come. It’s my online store come to life, with some extras. If you can’t make it to the festival our postage schedule for online orders placed during the festival is at the bottom of this post, with some info on how you’ll have a chance to purchase things you missed out on.

PatternsPrinted pattern booklets for my most popular designs plus a selection that I love from other designers. Nicely printed on heavy paper they’re lovely objects in their own right — if you don’t want to spoil them with notes every pattern includes a download code so that you can print a working copy and store a backup in your Ravelry library. Perhaps there’s a great design you missed online that will appeal while browsing through the racks? We love nothing more than matching yarns and patterns, not to mention the fact that we don’t get to see much beyond the booth, so bring your new treasures over for us to help with / fondle.

If you’d like to see these pattern booklets in your LYS (outside of the United States) check out my dedicated pattern and book distribution site here.

SamplesKnitting and yarn are so tactile that no photography can compare to seeing, and touching them in real life. You’re welcome to try things on or have a nosy at their innards. Just don’t judge the fact that I hardly ever weave in my ends on hats.

Yarn and kitsLast year we launched Blend no. 1 for EYF and this year we’re bringing the remains of, what I think will be, the final batch.

We’ve got even more kits and yarn sets than are currently available online including these paired mini skeins of Blend no. 1 dyed by me.

S Twist Wool has a brand new baby so he isn’t doing a stand at the festival, but fortunately a selection of his gorgeous, woolly Irish yarns will be there with us.

These mini skeins come in dyer’s choice sets of 4. They’d be perfect for my Ljós hat pattern or combined with a neutral for a sweater yoke or shawl. These only arrived yesterday and I’m cursing the fact that my to list is preventing me from casting on anything new.

The mini skein palettes would also be fun to combine with the Celtic Colours. These are dyed on light or dark grey yarns and I love seeing the rich results — the bottom two in this photo are dyed with the same yellow.

My Bruntsfield vest pattern uses one of my true desert island yarns (can it be a fairly chilly island please?) Shetland Organics wool from Uradale Farm. It’s produced in such small quantities that it feels really special to be able to offer it in kits. Do visit Uradale’s own stand at the festival and see the whole range, too.

BooksAs much as I love the online knitting community, and the incredible wealth of information and inspiration to be found within it I’d never give up my print library. Come and browse a range of my favourite books by the most inventive, knowledgable makers from around the world. The focus is on references you’ll use again and again, and beautifully produced books that only print can do justice to. You’ll also find books by some of the teachers, if you’re feeling inspired after a class, or missed out on signing up.

ToolsSome of the tools I find most indispensable are surprisingly hard to find. Make blocking both sweater pieces and shawls dramatically easier with the combination of the Coco Knits’ Knitter’s Block set and Lazadas’ flexible blocking wires. The Knitter’s Block sets aren’t in the online store yet but you can find the blocking wires here.

Also from Coco Knits is the Knitter’s Keep slap bracelet sets which come with a super handy supply of stainless steel tools. Until now I firmly believed that there were row counter people and people who cannot ever remember to click the damn counter (that would be me). But the Coco Knits one is so ridiculously satisfying to click that I might have changed my mind, and yes, it’s magnetic so you can keep it conveniently on the bracelet.

Fun knitterly from favourite designers:

Last year we sold out of these mugs from our studio neighbour, illustrator Anna Wright, by 10am. This year we’re better prepared with (hopefully!) plenty of stock of both mugs and these brand new zippered pouches. They’re intended to be make up bags, with a waterproof lining that isn’t that nasty plastic stuff, but I’ve been using it for my sleeve in progress and it’s just the right size.

You might recognise illustrator and graphic designer Julie Levesque from her work on my books or from her designs for Ravelry. I adore the sweater illustrations she did for Little Red in the City so I was delighted when she launched her Etsy store, Symposi Press, featuring yarny illustrations on stickers and gift tags.

The sticker sheets are perfectly sized for popular planners and are a great way to keep visual track of your progress on projects. The pussyhat decals are a fundraiser for Emily’s List and all proceeds from the ones we sell will be donated.

Virtual EYFMany of the things we’re taking to the festival aren’t currently available in my online store (although lots of them are, you can browse the full range of in stock products here). I know how frustrating it is to see previews and updates from and event you can’t attend so we’re planning a kind of virtual EYF update after we’ve had a chance to rest and restock. Stay tuned for an announcement on this but it will likely be towards the end of March.

EYF interruptionsWe’re a small team so we’ll all be busy setting up or working the festival on Thursday the 9th and Friday the 10th of March. I’ve also decided, in order to participate in the Day Without A Woman strike and allow my employees to do so, to close the studio and website on Wednesday the 8th of March. The website will go back up the following day but this means that orders placed after 4pm on Tuesday the 7th won’t be posted until Tuesday the 14th. Thank you for understanding!

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https://ysolda.com/blogs/journal/beautiful-projects-tweed2017-02-23T16:40:00+00:002018-11-23T13:02:25+00:00Beautiful Projects – TweedSarah Stanfield
Snow arrived in Scotland yesterday and has as reaching for our wool sweaters, hats, mitts, socks so we can wear them all at the same time. One of my head’s favourites today is the Solas hat from Knitworthy 3 which I knitted up in an amazing navy blue tweed, so I thought I’d share some other tweedy projects that are hopefully keeping their recipients as warm as I am!

To start with, a tweedy pair of Inglis Mitts knit by debkmsb. Working cables in darker colours can be tricky, so I love how the tweed flecks in the yarn help make the cables pop.

The Snapdragon Tam is one of my favourite hats to knit, with a really fun and interesting cable pattern that decreases towards the crown beautifully. This gorgeous tweedy version was knit by GreyFrog.

Helcaa knit her Strokkur using Rowan Felted Tweed for the main and natural colours, and a skein of striping Noro Kureyon as a contrast. So lovely!